Mueller report underlines Democrats' weakness

Mass movement is needed to defeat Trump

Tom Crean, Socialist Alternative, USA

The long-awaited key findings of Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump's ties to Russia have been made public. Mueller found no clear evidence of Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign "colluding" with Vladimir Putin. As regards Trump "obstructing justice," Mueller says there is no conclusive evidence but does not exonerate him either.

Trump and his associates are claiming victory, saying he has been "fully exonerated." It is very clear that the 'Russia, Russia, Russia' narrative that the Democratic leadership and the liberal media endlessly promoted for two years has hit the wall. Even leaving aside the very thin evidence of collusion, we have consistently pointed to the absurdity of the idea that a Russian intelligence operation was the decisive factor in the outcome of the 2016 elections.

The Democratic leadership has spent two years demobilising the movement against Trump by telling people to just wait until the Mueller report concludes.

This of course is not the end of Trump's legal problems as other investigations continue into his finances. Also, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives is set to conduct extensive public hearings on all these issues, ensuring that the saga will continue indefinitely.

But as they already have largely taken impeachment of the president off the table, the Mueller report looks set to end any chance the Democrats will actually seek to bring Trump down.

The Democratic establishment has chosen to focus on completely secondary issues rather than mobilise working people and the oppressed, on the issues they care about, against this vicious regime.

The real crimes

Here is a list (by no means complete) of Trump's actual 'high crimes and misdemeanours':

Threatening the health care of millions of people, especially those near or below the poverty line. He and the Congressional Republicans have worked overtime to roll back the expansion of Medicaid. And despite repeatedly promising not to cut Medicare and Social Security in 2016 this is exactly what his new budget proposes to do. Meanwhile, he and his billionaire cabinet have promoted massive tax cuts for big business and the rich.

He has given the Christian right everything they've asked for. In particular he has put two reactionary judges on the Supreme Court who will attack voting rights, LGBT+ rights and abortion rights, which are already under severe attack at state level.

Emboldening white nationalists and actively stoking racial division. This contributed directly to the Charlotesville neo-Nazi mobilisation in 2017 and to the Pittsburgh antisemitic massacre in 2018.

Promoting attacks on union rights, including last year's 'Janus' Supreme Court decisions (see 'US unions facing new challenge after Supreme Court ruling' - the Socialist, 4 July 2018). Though it's clear that a strong labour movement is the only effective way to push back against the massive increase in inequality.

Finally, instead of acting to avert climate catastrophe, Trump pulled out of the limited Paris accord and has sought to rip-up environmental protection regulations.

Where now?

No other president since World War Two has had disapproval ratings over 50% - virtually since the day he took office. How is it that the Democrat establishment is managing to let this outright reactionary (whose policies were again rejected by a clear majority in the midterm elections) off the hook?

It's not just their focus on Mueller's investigation as 'the way' to harm Trump. The Democrats also failed to take advantage of the government shutdown which led to Trump's highest disapproval ratings, by not challenging his narrative of an "invasion" at the southern border and refusing to mobilise ordinary people in the streets.

The corporate media sought to give Nancy Pelosi (Democrat and Speaker of the House of Representatives) credit for bringing the shutdown to an end. But it was actually the action of air traffic controllers and flight attendants which threatened to lead to a full-scale shutdown of the airports which brought Trump to heel within hours.

The bottom line is that the Democrats, even if they formally oppose reactionary policies, refuse to mobilise ordinary people to fight back. The establishment also resists any significant reforms that would affect the corporate bottom line.

They answer to their corporate donors who completely oppose Medicare for All and the 'green New Deal'; proposals that have been popularised by left-wing Democrats Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and are enormously popular in the voting base of the party.

The outcome of the Mueller investigation was largely predictable. But it urgently poses the question: how are we going to fight back against the endless attacks by the right?

In the past year young people have shown the way in the mass student walkouts demanding action on gun violence and climate change. Women have shown resistance to Trump's appointment of reactionary judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

But most significant is the teachers' revolt. By fighting alongside working-class communities and reclaiming the strike weapon, they have won significant gains from West Virginia to Oakland. They are showing the way to build the type of sustained mass movement we need.

This movement also needs a political expression, which is why we need a new party that fights for the interests of working people, not the billionaires.

We support Bernie Sanders' campaign for president because its programme points in this direction despite the campaign being stuck inside the Democratic Party.

This is why the ruling class would rather Trump win again than let Bernie near the White House. At this moment it's critical that Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez give real leadership and call for mass mobilisations and escalating action against this dangerous regime.

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